The Fall of Filipina Labor Migrants in Italy: A New Progressive Chapter?

• Main Author: Magante, Maire Carroline
• Format: text
• Published: Archīum Ateneo 2023
• Subjects: Economic migration; Filipina; labor migration; regional differences; Migration Studies; Social and Behavioral Sciences; Sociology
• Online Access: https://archium.ateneo.edu/economics-faculty-pubs/212; https://so03.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/jpss/article/view/259269
• Institution: Ateneo De Manila University

Filipina migrant laborers play a significant role in Italy’s labor economy. These foreign workers fill labor shortages across numerous divisions, specifically in areas where the availability of local labor is inadequate to meet the limited demand. As well, the influx of migrant labor alleviates the problems emerging from the highly segmented nature of Italy’s labor environment. Yet, in the past decade, there has been a significant observable drop in the Filipina [female] labor migrant inflow into the country. This decline poses a worrying scenario since Filipinas fulfill a significant employment demand in the care economy. Focusing on the inflow of Filipina labor migrants, the paper utilized 2007 to 2017 subnational economic indicators from the Istituto Nazionale di Statistica [Italian National Institute of Statistics] (ISTAT) on the twenty regions of Italy at the NUTS2 administrative level. Regardless of the substantial regional differences, one variable remains to be the primary determinant of labor migration inflow: the Filipino migrant stock.